Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) August 6, 2018 – Even though the congressionally-mandated annual non-immigrant visa and the master’s exemption caps have been reached for FY 2019, USCIS continues to accept and process petitions exempt for the cap. Additionally, petitions that were filed for current H-1B employees, previously counted against the cap, but those who still have their cap number, are not to be counted toward the FY2019 H-1B cap. While the immigration system has always been cumbersome, attempts have been made to reform it. Recently, under the Trump administration, USCIS has released new rulings regarding H-1B visas. The current […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) July 26, 2018 – There have been many modifications made by the Trump administration to practices, regulations and policies in business immigration. Many of the changes are not completely understood yet, as it will take time before the wider ramifications become clear. Some of the initiatives that have been implemented that may affect H-1B visas include: ·US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces that employment green card applicants are to have in-person interviews starting October 2017. However, according to existing policies, these interviews are usually waived. It is not clear how the existing policies will […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) July 12, 2018 – The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has proposed new rules under which all visa applicants seeking to enter the United States will be required to submit social media details. The proposal will affect around 14.7 million people who apply for immigrant and nonimmigrant U.S. visas each year. Under the new rules, visa applicants will be asked to provide all the social media handles they have used in the past five years, and to submit the email addresses and phone numbers they have used during that period. The mandatory social media data […]

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) July 6, 2018 – Custom Legal Marketing topped a field of over 6,000 entrants to receive a Platinum Hermes Award for design excellence for the new website of McCormack & Erlich, San Francisco employment lawyers. This is the second award Custom Legal Marketing has won for its work on the McCormack & Erlich website, Mcelawfirm.com. Earlier this year, CLM won a Muse Award for inspiring achievement in design and advertising. One highlight of the McCormack & Erlich website is a compelling, interactive presentation of workplace sexual harassment issues. The site walks the fist-time visitor […]

Wilmington, DE (Law Firm Newswire) June 15, 2018 – Custom Legal Marketing, an Adviatech company, has opened a strategy center in Wilmington, Delaware, to help attorneys competitively market their firms in an effective and efficient manner. Wilmington, one of the most populous cities in the state, has enormous potential for attorney marketing. As the population continues to increase, competition for legal clients is also bound to get tougher. Custom Legal Marketing’s search engine marketing solutions can help lawyers compete in Wilmington and throughout the State of Delaware. Additionally, Custom Legal Marketing (CLM) offers attorneys a No Competition Guarantee which means […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) June 15, 2018 – The Trump administration has been vocal on immigration in the United States. With ever changing policies there is much to keep up with in immigration policy. Consider the case of close to 8,600 Vietnamese immigrants now subject to final orders of deportation. A large number of these individuals came to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. They became green card holders. Despite the fact that they hold green cards, they may face deportation or detention in the United States indefinitely. Although 7,821 of these immigrants […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) June 13, 2018 – The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memo on April 17, 2018 announcing the implementation of a pilot program “to facilitate the adjudication and admission process of Canadians traveling to the U.S. as L-1 nonimmigrants” under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The joint six-month pilot program between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the USCIS California Service Center (CSC) favors advance planning over on-the-spot NAFTA L-1 border adjudications. The program began on April 30, 2018 and is currently in effect only at the Blaine CBP port […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) May 11, 2018 – The Department of Justice is imposing quotas on immigration judges with the aim of addressing a backlog of more than 650,000 pending immigration cases. The Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has introduced a new set of metrics that will be directly linked to the immigration judges’ annual performance reviews. “Judges make hard decisions in weighing the merits of each case. Do we want our judges to focus on how little time their decisions took to reach, or on making the right decision in light of the facts and the […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 18, 2018 – The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new mission statement on February 22, 2018 that no longer mentions the provision “services” as part of the mission of the agency. Those seeking services include U.S. Citizens and foreign nationals as petitioners and applicants. The revised statement places emphasis instead on serving “the American people” and ensuring ineligible individuals or those who “would do us harm” are not given immigration benefits. USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna announced the revisions in a letter emailed to agency employees. He claimed that using the […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 9, 2018 – Although the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was set to expire on March 5, DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, may not be leaving the country just yet. The DACA program has permitted some individuals who came into the United States illegally as minors to apply for a renewable two-year deferred action period protecting them from deportation and allowing them to obtain work permits. In September 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop renewing DACA permits, starting March 5, 2018. […]

Ridgewood, NJ (Law Firm Newswire) March 26, 2015 – Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak Law Group, P.C. (NPZ), received a great honor at the “Companies that Care” Awards Ceremony organized by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) and held at “Nanina’s in the Park” in Belleville, New Jersey on the 20th of March 2018. Managing Attorney David H. Nachman accepted the award and was pleased to see many friends and colleagues there supporting this important social-action event. CIANJ is a statewide business advocacy organization which represents more than 900 corporate members from every industry sector. CIANJ asked the business […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) March 21, 2018 – The U.S. Senate failed to pass legislation that would help Dreamers, young immigrants who came to the United States as children. On February 15, 2018, the Senate killed four immigration bills, including a measure backed by President Trump, that would have granted permanent resident status to approximately 1.8 million Dreamers and would have provided funding for a border wall. “President Trump has upped the ante to require that any legislation that he will sign that provides a long term solution for DACA recipients must not only fund a border wall, but […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) March 19, 2018 – In November 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule meant to modernize and improve regulations relating to employment-based immigration. The final rule’s purpose was to assist U.S. employers to hire and maintain highly skilled workers who are approved employment-based immigrants and are waiting to become permanent residents. The rule also aimed to clarify and improve longstanding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies and practices, grace periods and other issues in regard to immigrant business and non-immigrant visas. The rule went into effect on January 17, 2017. […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 16, 2018 – On January 25, 2018, the White House issued its framework on immigration reform with provisions to build a massive border wall, provide legal status for DACA beneficiaries, and also make major changes to U.S. family based immigration eligibility and eliminate the diversity lottery program. The outline focuses on deterring illegal immigration through the creation of a $25 billion trust fund for a southern border wall and other border improvements, and increased spending on the enforcement side, including funding additional DHS personnel, ICE attorneys and immigration judges. Sandwiched between the border wall […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 12, 2018 – The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) affects 38 countries whose citizens travel without visas to the United States. The VWP permits citizens of mainly European countries to travel to the United States for up to 90-days. This includes Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Citizens must obtain a travel authorization to enter the United States. As of December 2017, there are three new rules in place affecting the level of scrutiny VWP countries now receive. The new rules, introduced by the current administration for security reasons, state that: […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 10, 2018 – Expanded immigration enforcement at courthouses, set in motion by the Trump administration, has had a chilling effect on noncitizens seeking access to justice, according to a report published by The Fund for Modern Courts. The report, published December 5, 2017, details the impact of arrests carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in state courthouses in New York. ICE has begun targeting state courthouses as locations for enforcement actions, leading to an increase in the arrest rate and a significant impact on noncitizens seeking justice, the report says. “While […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 5, 2018 – In order to check to see who is required to register with Selective Service and what exceptions there are it is best to read the information available on the official Selective Service System website at: https://www.sss.gov/Portals/0/PDFs/WhoMustRegisterChart.pdf “What you need to know is that the Selective Service is not the same thing as signing up with the U.S. Armed Services, as Selective Service is not considered to be a part of the Department of Defense (DoD),” said Houston immigration attorney, Annie Banerjee. Selective Service is an autonomous branch of the U.S. government […]

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) December 27, 2017 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an update to a policy guidance in late October, 2017, which rescinded a 2004 USCIS policy that directed adjudicators to defer to prior determinations of eligibility when processing petition extensions for certain nonimmigrant visa categories. USCIS has instructed its adjudicating officers to use the same scrutiny in extension petitions as it now uses in deciding initial petitions. “Taken together with the president’s April 18, 2017 ‘Buy American, Hire American’ Executive Order, USCIS has given its adjudicators a green light to find reasons to object […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) December 12, 2017 – The current administration has demonstrated that immigration is one of its central concerns. With plans to build a border wall, executive orders and policies an uncertain future is forming for immigration. Now, a new policy outlines what information the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department can collect. On September 18, 2017 the Federal Register released a notice, which sparked bewilderment. The notice dealt with what information the government may keep if someone applies for any immigration benefits. It is important to understand that anyone may apply for a benefit and when […]

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) December 5, 2017 – Under the Trump administration, immigration legislation changes often. It is best to reach out and connect with an experienced immigration attorney with questions or concerns about work permits or applications in progress. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program gave undocumented immigrants the opportunity to get educated, live and work legally in the United States without fearing deportation. The latest information that affects those under the auspices of the DACA program is that if a work permit is set to expire March 5, 2018, it may be extended another 2-years, […]